ER: "No Brain, No Gain" Summary/Review
Scott Hollifield
E.R., Season 3, Episode 7, "No Brain, No Gain"
Written by: ?
Directed by: ?
(Someone please get me these credits, I lost my tape!)
PLOT ONE: MATING RITUAL
An absent-minded Mark greets Carol on the way to work by calling
her "Susan", which Carol comments upon. "I wish you guys would just
hurry up and get married," she remarks, and tells Mark that Susan
really did want him to go on vacation with her. Mark spends most
of the day watching Susan intently. He even works up the nerve
to ask her out, but she uncomfortably declines, and says, "We need
to talk". At one point, he treats a birdwatcher who fell out of a
tree; the woman, who claims to be a "comparative anthropologist",
is doing a study on mating rituals, and takes pictures of both humans
and birds. She gives Mark a quick primer on courtship body language,
pointing out examples between Jerry and Wendy, and between Chuny and a
friendly EMT. Mark takes this lesson to heart and uses it to
draw inferences about Susan and Dr. Morgenstern when he spies them
together. The two do seem to be on somewhat friendlier terms than
usual (Morgenstern at one point has Susan scratch an itch on his
mustache), and Mark confides his suspicions to Carol, who urges
him to just drop by Susan's apartment and settle everything once
and for all. He does so. Susan is surprised to see him at her door,
and tells him that she just called him. She denies that she and
Morgenstern are dating, but she does have some significant news:
Morgenstern has been helping her preparing her transcripts for a
transfer to Phoenix. While on visiting Chloe and Susie there
recently, she felt as if she belonged there; the decision to move
has brought her feelings of true happiness, and she doesn't
feel like she has much in Chicago anyway. Mark stoically wishes
her well, but when they hug, neither seems to want to let go. "I'm
really gonna miss you," Susan tells Mark, who replies, "I'm really
gonna miss you too."
PLOT TWO: CALLING DR. BREEDLOVE
Peter Benton is still keeping a close watch over baby Megan Herlihy,
whose liver he caused to rupture last week. With a newly distended
abdomen, Megan's condition is still very serious. Abby Keaton tells
Peter that, for the time being, he should "be more of an observer than
a participant" in the OR. Later, a thirteen-year-old gunshot victim
is brought in. Doug quickly estimates the boy's chances at zero,
and pronounces the time of death, but then Peter comes in, and
sees a chance to reverse his luck. Overruling Doug, he works on the
kid to bring him back to life, eventually moving him up to the OR
after his heart is revived. Doug is very annoyed that Mark gives
Peter sanction because he's already started (see MISCELLANEOUS
THREADS). Peter works mightily all day to help save the boy's life,
supervised by Dr. Breedlove, a respected if crusty elder surgeon.
Keaton thinks this is "a lot of work to save an organ donor", but
doesn't discourage Peter. The boy's mom, Mrs. Dorsett, insists on
seeing her son, and watches as his brain activity is given an apnea
test. The result shows that his brain is truly dead, and Mrs. Dorsett
breaks down sobbing. Benton rejoins the vigil on baby Megan, where he
finds the Herlihys in ICU, who thank him for all he's done (not
knowing
of Benton's surgical error). Abby asks him later if he really thought
he could save that boy. "I never worked so hard or performed more
surgery than I did today," he replies. Abby suggests that he visit
Megan one more time before he leaves, and when he does, he finds that
the baby has made an astounding recovery. "It's a miracle," breathes
Gail Herlihy, as Peter stares at the infant, dumbfounded.
PLOT THREE: CHICKA-BOOM, CHICKA-BOOM
Dale Edson, the freshly-scrubbed intern from Harvard, is assisting
Anspaugh and the renowed Dr. Okida in the OR, but he seems to have
lost their patient, a man named Mr. Percy who has a both a tumor
in his throat. Dale enlists Carter and Gant to help him track down
Percy, which they agree to do, but privately blow off, remembering
Dale's treatment of them both in the past. Nonetheless, Carter
accidentally finds Mr. Percy a little later, hiding and gorging on
Nurse Wendy Goldman's homemade taffy. Carter and Wendy manage to
retrieve the taffy from Mr. Percy, which earns points from Anspaugh,
who invites Carter to scrub in on Percy's operation. A little later,
Carter has to hunt down Percy again, who's cowering in a cabinet.
Their conversation, in which Percy refuses to talk about the operation
but continually asks for change for the candy machine, leads Carter
to deduce that Percy's mental capacity is not fit to give consent for
such a serious operation. He brings this up to Dale, who obtained
Percy's consent signature. Dale, of course, doesn't like having his
work questioned, and suggests that Carter find a psych-consult for
Percy if he can, in the time remaining for the operation. This he
cannot do, so Carter reluctantly participates in the operation.
Although he's chided once by Okida for falling asleep, Carter
astutely discovers where Dale has accidentally goofed on the patient's
esophagus ("You poke hole in pleura," Okida accuses Dale).
This earns Dale the doghouse after the operation, while Carter is
invited to karaoke with Anspaugh and Okida. Carter returns to his
locker in a jolly mood, which is soured when Dale informs him that
Percy stroked out. "Nothing left to do but turn and water him,"
says Dale, who taunts Carter with not having the balls to stop the
operation. "You smug son of a bitch," Carter says, and shoves Dale
against the lockers; Dale responds by punching Carter through the
door, where an astonished Abby Keaton stands. Later, Abby is
tenderly patching up the injured face of Carter, who finally relents
to her request to call her "Abby" instead of "Dr. Keaton". The
two trade a long, lingering stare, after which Abby spontaneously,
almost violently, lunges at him with a kiss.
PLOT FOUR: FLOAT AWAY
Despite Carol telling her that she's taboo in the ER, Nurse Rhonda
Sterling has been "floated" down yet again, where she's still having
trouble coping with the way things are done. When a patient of hers
is found urinating in a phone booth, Rhonda comes to Carol to
complain,
but Carol only suggests that she find a mop. "I don't mop," replies
Rhonda sourly. Later, Rhonda takes time out to mix a homemade
enema recipe, made from milk and molasses, for a middle-aged female
patient, but Carol puts a stop to it, sending the woman home and
telling Rhonda that ER nurses neither make out detailed personal
histories, nor do they brew homemade enemas (despite the patient's
protest that she and Rhonda were having a "nice little chat").
Later, the woman is found in the waiting room (her retirement home
hasn't picked her up yet), and while waiting, having had an "accident"
of the "loose runny kind". To Carol, Rhonda primly counter-suggests
getting a mop. Rhonda's moral high ground is short-lived, however,
when she inadvertently switches a patient's football with his own
detached foot, which has a traumatizing effect on the man's wife
when she's handed what she thinks is her husband's football. This
is the last straw for Carol, who wastes no time in writing Rhonda
up. Rhonda admits that she doesn't know what she's doing, but
begs Carol to have pity on her. She's nine months away from her
maximum pension, and she claims that the hospital administration is
trying to force her out by floating her to areas where her
incompetence is sure to get her fired. Carol scoffs at this, and
continues to write her up, whereupon Rhonda snatches away the paper
and says that she quits. Carol shares Rhonda's sob story with
the other nurses, but immediately after, Lydia receives a memo
saying that she's going to be floated to neurology three times a
week, a year away from her maximum pension.
MISCELLANEOUS THREADS:
Doug is incensed at having his patient snatched away by Benton, and
lashes out at Mark for approving it. "As long as we don't work
the same four" shifts together, we'll be fine, Doug informs Mark
dourly. Mark claims that his castigation isn't personal, but
when Doug accuses Mark of treating him like dirt since he brought
in Nadine Wilks, Mark shoot back, "What do you expect when you drag
your dirty laundry through the door?" At the end of the shift,
both men are a tad more conciliatory. Mark admits that he let his
personal feelings affect their personal relationship. Doug counters
by saying that he can do a good job of beating himself up without
help (which Mark says is "probably not the best approach"). Doug
also reveals that he's seeing a psychiatrist, and Mark jokes about
the shrink being Freudian. "You know something, I hate you,"
remarks Doug, with a faint smile, as he leaves the room.
E. Ray Bozeman, man of many hats, gets to try on the role of patient,
when he's admitted for his shoulder, "an old conga injury". He
received an MRI the previous day, but is now worried that the MRI
somehow imbued him with a "negative force field" that radiates
"some bizarre form of electronic interference". Susan scoffs at this,
until her eye-light goes out in E. Ray's presence. Throughout the
course of the day, E. Ray seemindly causes computers and elevators
to go out just by being in their proximity. He enlists the help of
Randy and Wendy, who sneak him back into the MRI for a "reversal".
E. Ray knows a little bit about how to work the MRI, which he coaches
Jerry on (who boasts, "This radiology tech stuff isn't so hard"),
but after E. Ray has been bathed in the MRI chamber, they can't quite
shut it off; in fact, Jerry hits a button that seemingly accelerates
the device.
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Boy. I think E. Ray being in that MRI machine when it's
bumped up to super-speed is symbolic of the viewers of this show
when sweeps month kicks in. "No Brain, No Gain" was an ultra-busy
hour of ER with enough story for two healthy episodes, and there
were a couple of pertinent turning points as well.
The headline news, naturally, is Mark and Susan, where, after
two years, things are Finally Happening. At the start of the episode,
both characters are in that delicious phase where they each realize
that they're probably attracted to each other, and the only real
question is, who will make the first move? However, as they sometimes
do, the writers throw a surprise eleventh-hour wrench into the works:
Susan drops the bombshell that she's moving to Phoenix. This was
a very effective surprise, because we the viewers have been very
definitely placed in Mark's shoes for the last few weeks. We missed
accompanying her on her vacation, we eagerly awaited her to get back,
we weren't made privy to her planning sessions with Morgenstern, and
so, the effect was shattering when Susan made her announcement. Have
these two come this far, only to be separated by mistimed emotions
(which also derailed their joint vacation)? I think what I like
most about this story is that it's not necessarily a simple case of
"Mark didn't make his move soon enough, so he's going to be directly
punished by Susan moving away". Susan has legitimate reasons for
moving away. She hasn't been truly happy at work in a long time,
she still has some serious issues to work out about how much
emotion and effort to invest in her medical career, and she's
recently made the surprisingly positive transition to her role as
baby Susan's willing aunt. On the surface, it makes *sense* for her
to move to Phoenix. The ultimate question now is, will what Mark has
to offer her be enough to keep her in Chicago? My prediction is
"yes", for more than one reason. I haven't heard anything about
Sherry Stringfield leaving the series lately, I think viewers would
respond far more positively to them getting together, and in the
end, when all is said and done, I think Susan's primary quest is a
cure for her intractable loneliness. On the other hand, Susan was
reported by tabloids last season to be overwhelmed by the stress of
the show, and desiring to leave. Naturally, since that's only a
tabloid story, and an old one at that, I'm hesitant to give it any
validity, but I can't help but wonder if the writers made a
conscious effort to work Sherry's enervation into the story last
season. Her character claims to be refreshed by the time off but
knowing that a permanent vacation is what she needs; it's possible
that the actress feels likewise. Then again, I fully expect to be
proven wrong -- no matter what I predict.
Peter's thread is an interesting one, because it's a twist,
of a sort, on the old story of him losing a patient, then finding
redemption in saving another one. Here, Peter loses the second one
as well, but then finds that the first one is miraculously brought
back from the brink. As a religious person who's been subtlely shown
lately as losing his faith, he must find signals such as these
confusing, if they do come from a higher power. The episode's title
("No Brain, No Gain") is, like "Love's Labor Lost", a literal
prophecy of the results of the story, but it's also a more general
statement on the condition of things in Peter's life; if we assumed
that Megan was a loss from the outset, then Peter's score is still
straddling zero at the end of the episode. Overshadowing the lesson
of the current season's arc, that Peter may not be cut out to work
in pediatric surgery unless a drastic change of heart happens, is
a more important one: that Peter sometimes lacks the power to see
through the fruition of his will. His reaction to losing Mrs.
Dorsett's son was not regret so much as surprise; he was *sure*
he was going to save that boy, even if no one else thought so. He
was right about the scope of his abilities when saving a suicide
last season in "Baby Shower"; he was wrong this week. I'm not sure
where this is going to go, actually; instead of having him learn to
relate to children, the writers are having Peter witness the
recovery of an infant, in spite of his own error. This may not
ingratiate Peter with the comfort zone of pediatric surgery, but
it may help provide a building block in the reparation of his soul.
Noah Wyle should be happy; they're finally doing something
with his character this season, sort of. A lot of the source of
confict in "ER" derives from a protagonist grappling with someone
higher-up in the hierarchy, and so frustration results from that
credibility gap, but this week, Carter gains a nemesis on his own
level in the food chain. Dale Edson seemed a little too well-healed
but otherwise not very reproachable last season as Harper's old
friend whose presence infected Carter with a rather silly strain of
jealousy; this season, it looks like he's been recruited as a
full-fledged villain. Carter's own conflict is fortunately not
just a good vs. evil struggle with Dale, however; it's a clash
with his own attitude towards authority figures, and lack of
assertion in general. The story is a little vague in suggesting
that Carter could have actually done anything, no matter how
assertive, in keeping Mr. Percy out of surgery, but the question
that lies is that he'll never know whether he could have or not,
thanks to his own inaction. Oh, and wait a minute, let's not
forget about Carter's "surprising relationship" which folks have
been speculating about for weeks. Some of you guys were right in
pegging Abby Keaton (and I myself skeptically pointed out evidence
of it last week). My support for Abby has been positive but a
little grudging so far; she's both tender and strong-willed, but
just maybe a bit too perfect. With her impulsive kiss with Carter,
which can hardly be described by any other verb than "inflicted",
her character rose several notches in my estimation. Her action
is an affirmation of the show's general doctrine that people should
try to allow individual expression to surface in day-to-day life,
that impulsiveness in a good cause can be meritorious. Moreover,
it shows that Abby isn't a total professional 24 hours of the day,
that she also has desires and emotions that exist outside of her
feeling for young patients (and is a lack of protocol consistent with
her first appearance, when Peter found her eating pizza in Anspaugh's
office). I'm also intrigued by the implication that Abby finds
Carter's sensitivity and nobility with patients to be a sexual
turn-on. How this relationship will be dealt with is anyone's guess,
but I don't think that was what they wanted us to think about for
right now. Instead, like Carter and Abby, just savor the moment.
The clash between Carol and Rhonda, surprisingly carried
over from last week (after which I thought Rhonda was history), was
satisfying for me, for a number of reasons, mostly relating to how
this was yet another example of a situation that refuses to be
couched completely in black-and-white. I'm not the only person to
notice that Carol has become more crabby in the role of charge nurse
over the course of the last year or so. Her "this is the way we
do things; adopt or die" attitude is admirable in an environment
where there *are* rules that serve very well, but there's another
side to the coin; indeed, from certain perspectives, Carol's
inflexibility and refusal to listen to ideas might be regarded as
less than ideal. (And her decision to send the woman home with
the enema-in-a-box was apparently ill-conceived as well.) As for
Rhonda, she's clearly incompetent as an ER nurse, I don't think
anyone can deny that. Even better is that she realizes it. So she
deals with it in the best way she knows how: she treats an older
patient with the same care and individual concern she'd show upstairs
as a floor nurse, doing what *she* does best. And judging from her
rapport with the woman, I think the show is saying that Rhonda is
actually an excellent nurse, in an environment where procedure is
more bendable. The added kick of having her pension threatened
doesn't excuse Rhonda's lack of ER ability *or* her attitude, but it
does serve as a reminder that she's not alone, that Lydia could turn
out to be equally incompetent floating in neuro. One might argue
that we'd hope that Lydia wouldn't cop such belligerance, that she'd
try to find ways to work within the system or at least stay out of
the way, but we know Lydia to be a proud woman too, from what we've
seen; I don't think it's far-fetched at all to see her fall into a
situation akin to Rhonda's. In any case, I thought this was an
excellent story, thanks in part to Rhonda's pro-active behavior,
a step up from her meek sullenness last week.
Apparently, this show has been so busy and crowded lately
that we simply haven't been given time to see Doug visiting a
shrink, which he admits to this week. This is an interesting turn
for a man who was pushed into seeing one near the end of the first
season, and was rebuffed by a psychiatrist who didn't seem too
interested in prolonged therapy. Hopefully his current doctor is
treating him better. It also looks like they've decided to
quietly smooth over, at least for the time being, Doug and Mark's
feud, which has bubbled up a couple of times over the last year and
has only really flared into a continuing thing this season. I like
that it was Mark who had to apologize this time; he, in fact, was
being too hard on Doug, and yes, it was personal. It's easy to
see Mark's attitude towards Doug as a sort of toughlove; Mark admires
Doug so much, as a friend, as a doctor and as an intelligent human
being, that he is repulsed the behavioral pattern he sees in Doug's
personal life. Doug succintly points out the proper response to
such an attitude this week: Mark's ire at him is not therapeutic,
because Doug is already wrapped up in a spiral of self-loathing --
more coals on the fire aren't going to help. What I'd like to see
emerge is a scenario in which Doug actually achieves a place where
his friends can be in a position to actively support him. He's
had a bad year; maybe things will look up for him soon.
Some assorted comments:
-The subplot with E. Ray and his "negative force field" was
silly, but I somehow appreciated it more than last week's
cryogenic antics, I think because some part of me actually
digs Charles Noland's portrayal of the new-age guru-wannabe.
Jerry's part in this was also kind of cute, because it wasn't
so much that he wanted to help E. Ray, but more because you
know, he's up for anything cool. :) Check out the grin
on his face when he's fiddling around with the MRI controls.
I also liked the unusually heavy screen time for Vannesa
Marquez (as Wendy), who reminds me of a more competent
Jennifer Tilly, even if she, like most of the nurses, are
used only when a comic subplot calls for them.
-I was also pleased to see guest-star Sab Shimono again don
medical scrubs as Dr. "Oki" Okida (he played a medical
examiner named "Painless" in Alan Pakula's excellent film
Presumed Innocent). The scene of Okida, Anspaugh and Carter
singing "My Blue Heaven" was bizarre and almost
unstomachable, although peeking between my fingers, I did
pick up on the fact that John Aylward (Anspaugh) really
doesn't have that bad a singing voice.
-Yet another intriguing guest-star turn was Tom Towles as
the loud, almost Ross-Perot-like Dr. Stan Breedlove, who
likes to reminisce about the days when they used real
catgut, and who's curt order of "Box!" results in placement
of a personal stature-supporting crate marked "Dr. B."
placed under his feet. There was something strange and
yet very natural seeming about Dr. Breedlove (like Megan
Cole's unnamed but much-asked-about spiky-haired
pathologist from last season), and I hope we see him again.
(And since someone's going to take me to task for leaving
him out if I do, yes, that was William Sanderson, of
Newhart's "Larry, Daryl and Daryl", as the sweet-toothed
Mr. Percy.)
-Almost unnoticeable amidst all the goings-on was the return
of Dr. Morgenstern, who hasn't been seen since he
successfully asked Kerry Weaver out. Speaking of Kerry, the
previews show that she also returns next week. Where have
this couple been all this time?
-And also speaking of the previews, I'm not sure I want to
watch them anymore. Watching this episode without next
week's
preview, and then watching the preview, made it seem almost
as if I'd seen two different versions of the show, ending
on two different moods. Mark's situation with Susan seemed
emminently heartbreaking as the show faded to black, but
after seeing the preview, with Mark being urged to chase
Susan down at the train station (and Susan admitting "cold
feet"), there was a decidedly raised level of hope. Not that
there's anything wrong with that, but I'd rather have had
my hope raised NEXT week, when watching the actual episode;
it
sort of splashed water on my reaction to this week's
ending. So I think I'm going to try to avoid being spoiled
like that if at all possible.
-And now for a final, unrelated-to-"ER" note:
If you missed out on CBS's new crime drama "EZ Streets", I'm
not surprised; CBS only showed two episodes of this excellent
show before yanking it from the schedule.
If you did see it, however, you know how good it was -- and
you'll agree with me that it badly needs to be put back on
the air. Well, there's good news -- sort of. CBS actually
has plans to "relaunch" "EZ Streets" in the spring, as a
mid-season replacement series. But that's only going to work
if they have support.
Let me tell you -- in case you didn't see it -- this show
is really, really good. It's caused me to give up any
intentions of watching Law & Order, when they had competing
timeslots. If I weren't writing "ER" summary/reviews, I
might just be doing it for "EZ Streets". It's the baby
of Paul Haggis, who created the critically-acclaimed "Due
South", and in my opinion, "EZ Streets" pretty much blows
away "Due South". Ken Olin, Jason Gedrick and Joe
Pantioliano are play complicated characters living in a world
where lines are blurred between crime and the law. I can't
recommend it enough. It's a show that treats its viewers
with intelligence more than any other show.
Like I said, CBS wants to renew it, basically because they
have such a tight relationship with Paul Haggis, but they
need to see that people *want* it on the air. To that end,
I'm helping urge people to write in and tell them so. One
of the main reasons "EZ Streets" flopped was because CBS
didn't really promote it; if they see people want it back,
they'll promote it in the spring, and it'll go on to become
a success the same way "Homicide: Life on the Streets" did.
Please take a couple of minutes to do this and send it out
with your weekly bills. This show really needs to get back
on the air where we can enjoy it. The pertinent addresses
are:
CBS Audience Services
524 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
e-mail: aud...@cbs.com
Mr. Leslie Moonves
President, CBS Entertainment
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Fax: 1-213-653-8276
Universal/MCA TV (the show's producers)
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
e-mail: t...@mca.com
Sorry for the rambling, but this is something I really
want to help make happen. Alan Sepinwall, who writes
the "NYPD Blue" summary/reviews that inspired my own
"ER" stuff, has spoken both to Les Moonves and Paul Haggis,
and is convinced that this is not just another show with
a small following that was cancelled quickly, like so
many others. There are people that believe in it who can
make a difference, and they just need to see that we want
the show to succeed.
-Line of the week:
Mark: "[Susan] and Morgenstern are going out. I can handle
that. What bothers me is that she didn't tell me."
Carol: "If I were going out with Morgenstern, I wouldn't
tell anybody."
-Line of the week II:
Mark: (referring to taffy) "God, it's like rubber."
Wendy: "It's all in the corn starch."
-Line of the week III:
Mark: (observing Susan with Morgenstern) "She's giving him
full-frontal neck."
-Line of the week IV:
Anspaugh: "Let's take him, Oki."
Okida: "Okey-dokey."
------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Hollifield ** sco...@cris.com ** http://www.cris.com/~scotth
Scott Hollifield
sco...@cris.com (Scott Hollifield) wrote:
>E.R., Season 3, Episode 7, "No Brain, No Gain"
>Written by: ?
>Directed by: ?
>(Someone please get me these credits, I lost my tape!)
Never mind, I found them. The episode was written by Paul Manning and
directed by David Nutter. Please refrain from deluging my mailbox
with helpful replies. :-)
Nancy A. Farkas
If i remember correctly, when the nurse in the operating room opened the
bag that was supposed to contain the foot, she pulled out the ball and it
was covered in ice.If you remember, carol yelled at rhonda that because
the foot had not been packed in ice, that they could not attach it.
Nancy
Pamela-Marie
sco...@cris.com (Scott Hollifield) wrote:
>On the surface, it makes *sense* for her [Susan]
>to move to Phoenix. The ultimate question now is, will what Mark has
>to offer her be enough to keep her in Chicago?
It depends on if he can or she doesn't change her mind herself :)
>PLOT THREE: CHICKA-BOOM, CHICKA-BOOM
lovely title :)
> Noah Wyle should be happy; they're finally doing something
>with his character this season, sort of.
I know I'm very happy! He's also not in the ER all the time anymore, after
all he is a surgeon, shouldn't he be in surgery.
>Oh, and wait a minute, let's
>not forget about Carter's "surprising relationship" which folks have
>been speculating about for weeks. Some of you guys were right in
>pegging Abby Keaton (and I myself skeptically pointed out evidence
>of it last week). My support for Abby has been positive but a
>little grudging so far; she's both tender and strong-willed, but
>just maybe a bit too perfect. With her impulsive kiss with Carter,
>which can hardly be described by any other verb than "inflicted",
>her character rose several notches in my estimation. Her action
>is an affirmation of the show's general doctrine that people should
>try to allow individual expression to surface in day-to-day life,
>that impulsiveness in a good cause can be meritorious. Moreover,
>it shows that Abby isn't a total professional 24 hours of the day,
>that she also has desires and emotions that exist outside of her
>feeling for young patients (and is a lack of protocol consistent with
>her first appearance, when Peter found her eating pizza in Anspaugh's
>office). I'm also intrigued by the implication that Abby finds
>Carter's sensitivity and nobility with patients to be a sexual
>turn-on. How this relationship will be dealt with is anyone's guess,
>but I don't think that was what they wanted us to think about for
>right now. Instead, like Carter and Abby, just savor the moment.
Oh I liked it a lot. It is about time someone liked Carter for who he is
and Abby does. I just think she couldn't hold back. As glad as I am that
the relationship was Keaton, being a Carol/Carter fan no less, all the
other possible pairings mentioned on the ng, gave me some interesting
ideas and now I'm a bit disappointed :)
>Some assorted comments:
> Check out the grin
> on his face when he's fiddling around with the MRI controls.
> I also liked the unusually heavy screen time for Vannesa
> Marquez (as Wendy), who reminds me of a more competent
> Jennifer Tilly, even if she, like most of the nurses, are
> used only when a comic subplot calls for them.
She is an incredibly good actress who has been in a lot of stuff and I was
glad to see her.On another note: JERRY and WENDY??????????????????????????
> The scene of Okida, Anspaugh and Carter
> singing "My Blue Heaven" was bizarre and almost
> unstomachable, although peeking between my fingers, I did
> pick up on the fact that John Aylward (Anspaugh) really
> doesn't have that bad a singing voice.
I think that was the whole point, other tha proving Carter has succeeded
in no longer humiliating himself in front of Anspaugh.
> (And since someone's going to take me to task for leaving
> him out if I do, yes, that was William Sanderson, of
> Newhart's "Larry, Daryl and Daryl", as the sweet-toothed
> Mr. Percy.)
Great to see him acting again.
> -Almost unnoticeable amidst all the goings-on was the return
> of Dr. Morgenstern, who hasn't been seen since he
> successfully asked Kerry Weaver out. Speaking of Kerry, the
> previews show that she also returns next week. Where have
> this couple been all this time?
Well I heard that Laura Innes filmed celebrity Jepoardy the same week they
filmed Fear of Flying, but I'm not sure. It would explain her
dissappearance though.
> -Line of the week:
> Mark: "[Susan] and Morgenstern are going out. I can handle
> that. What bothers me is that she didn't tell me."
> Carol: "If I were going out with Morgenstern, I wouldn't
> tell anybody."
That was good. Though I like David, I wouldn't advise any woman to marry
him.
> -Line of the week II:
> Mark: (referring to taffy) "God, it's like rubber."
> Wendy: "It's all in the corn starch."
I thought Carter said that.
> -Line of the week III:
> Mark: (observing Susan with Morgenstern) "She's giving him
> full-frontal neck."
>
> -Line of the week IV:
> Anspaugh: "Let's take him, Oki."
> Okida: "Okey-dokey."
I think those two have been in the profession way too long.
I also like when Mark said to Carol regarding Susan and David M. "Why
doesn't she bend over and show him her tail-feathers.
Wasn't sure to be nausated by David's "don't start with me missy..." or
not. It was sickening in one way and cute in another.
Really good review Scott, they extra time was worth it!
Pamela-Marie
Mike Sugimoto
Kathleen M. Frederick (km...@lehigh.edu) wrote:
: Will someone please tell me if this can really happen? I mean, come on,
: no one checked the bag the foot was in? Would they just dump some ice in
: the bag and only take the appendage out when they needed it? I can't
: believe this would ever happen, even with an incompetent nurse like Rhonda
: around.
I would be *VERY* surprised.
Most places I've ever been (including a large number of medic crews) have
specific boxes/bags used for appendage transportation. They're rather
sturdy so nothing gets crushed, usually made out of stiff waxed cardboard.
They're also as sterile as they can be, and have that nice six-petaled
toadshade on it with the word "BIOHAZARD" stenciled on there. I've even
seen them with the words "Human Tissue" on it, so you can't mistake it for
somebody's lunch. (As it was so astutely explained to me once - what that
says about the eating habits of medics, I don't know and don't want to
think about.)
Patient property bags are usually white, and have the words "PATIENT
BELONGINGS" or something similar stamped on them. Biohazard bags, which
are what should have been used, are yellow or red, and have nice biohazard
warning signs all over them.
The other thing that bugs me about that (don't get me wrong, I *loved* the
whole sequence).. isn't ice supposed to be a heck of a lot colder than
clothes and a football? Plastic bags get COLD when they're full of ice,
foot or no foot in them. Someone would have had to pick up the bag, and
probably would have noticed that it wasn't cold, and that there was no
condensation on the outside of it. Hrmm..
Lawsuit material. Definitely.
Contemplating dinner,
---
mike sugimoto gat/md/t/s, er resident<tm>, dreamer, shaper, singer, maker
phl...@islandnet.com http://www.islandnet.com/~phloem/
"i deserve true love - even if it costs me $3.99 a minute."
david joseph kathman
In article <56ltdb$u...@news.islandnet.com>,
But Rhonda put the football on ice, rather than the foot. I watched those
scenes again on tape, and here's what happened: somebody put the foot
in a bag which Rhonda was holding, but the bag was clearly marked
"Personal Belongings Bag"; apparently Rhonda doesn't know the difference,
and everybody else was too busy trying to save the guy to notice.
Shortly thereafter, Carol takes the guy's football and puts it in an
identical Personal Belongings Bag. Then Rhonda yells, "Ice is here",
and Mark replies, "Put it on the foot". Then we see Rhonda shoveling
ice into a bag, but she's not even looking at what she's doing; instead
she's looking at the doctors. Then later, when the surgeons take the
football out of the bag thinking it's the foot, it's covered with ice.
So Rhonda screwed up twice: first when she put the foot in a Personal
Belongings Bag, and then when she shoveled ice into the wrong bag without
looking at it. (Actually, I think Rhonda was out getting the ice when
Carol was putting the football into an identical bag, so she probably
assumed that the football bag contained the foot, but that's still no
excuse).
Dave Kathman
dj...@midway.uchicago.edu
Tirya
Scott Hollifield (sco...@cris.com) wrote:
: Apparently, this show has been so busy and crowded lately
: that we simply haven't been given time to see Doug visiting a
: shrink, which he admits to this week.
I'm glad he's going - it's a great first step. IRL, though, I think the
reason we haven't see Doug as much is his limited ER-shooting time until
B&R is done.
: -I was also pleased to see guest-star Sab Shimono again don
: medical scrubs as Dr. "Oki" Okida (he played a medical
: examiner named "Painless" in Alan Pakula's excellent film
: Presumed Innocent). The scene of Okida, Anspaugh and Carter
: singing "My Blue Heaven" was bizarre and almost
: unstomachable, although peeking between my fingers, I did
: pick up on the fact that John Aylward (Anspaugh) really
: doesn't have that bad a singing voice.
::grinz:: What, the singing gave you the shudders, not the chills? ;) We
have a rule were I karaoke - you always applaud. Some you applaud because
they're *GOOD*, and some you applaud because they're *DONE*... :)
: -Almost unnoticeable amidst all the goings-on was the return
: of Dr. Morgenstern, who hasn't been seen since he
: successfully asked Kerry Weaver out. Speaking of Kerry, the
: previews show that she also returns next week. Where have
: this couple been all this time?
Hmmm... what was that about a wedding? Nah... they wouldn't... ::grinz::
Tir
--
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tirya | Help, Mr. Wizard! |
| ti...@wwa.com | I don't want to BE an |
| http://www.wwa.com/~tirya | administrative assistant anymore! |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Don Weinman
Kathleen M. Frederick wrote:
>
> sco...@cris.com (Scott Hollifield) wrote:
>
> >getting a mop. Rhonda's moral high ground is short-lived, however,
> >when she inadvertently switches a patient's football with his own
> >detached foot, which has a traumatizing effect on the man's wife
> >when she's handed what she thinks is her husband's football. This
> >is the last straw for Carol, who wastes no time in writing Rhonda
>
> no one checked the bag the foot was in? Would they just dump some ice in
> the bag and only take the appendage out when they needed it? I can't
> believe this would ever happen, even with an incompetent nurse like Rhonda
> around.
Nothing would surpeise me. My mother in law was prepped for a surgical
procedure and almost wheeled into the OR before she was finally able to
convince the attending nurses that she was not the same "Mrs. Cohen"
they wanted! And this was at Cedar's Sinai, one of the top hospitals in
this area.
DPW
Jonathan Roberts
Kathleen M. Frederick wrote:
> Will someone please tell me if this can really happen? I mean, come on,
> no one checked the bag the foot was in?
I've read that in some cases regard amputation, for example, they
explicitly write "NOT THIS ONE" on the healthy appendage...
At the risk of inspiring additional assaults, I can say that whem my
grandmother was in the hospital for some operation or another, she'd
been given the preliminary anaesthetic. A new person came up and asked,
"This is the woman who's having her leg amputated?" My grandmother sat
up and yelled, "LIKE HELL I AM!"
They did get the operation right after that!
--
Best,
Jon
jonathan roberts \ in days somehow distracted
guitar:synth:notes \ in nights of troubled sleep
the region of where \ these secrets long suppressed emerge
nart...@ix.netcom.com \ too difficult to keep
Erin Curtin
Susan has legitimate reasons for
moving away. She hasn't been truly happy at work in a long time,
she still has some serious issues to work out about how much
emotion and effort to invest in her medical career, and she's
recently made the surprisingly positive transition to her role as
to move to Phoenix.
One of the few times I'd disagree with you Scott. I think this is a real
step backward for Susan's character. I thought after finally letting go of
the baby, and deciding work wasn't all-important, she would concentrate on
getting her own life. Signs like going on vacation and going after Mark
seemed steps in that direction, instead, she chickens out on both counts and
reverts to her old caretaker role for Chloe and Suzy. I think this is a bad
move, and yet another dragging out of this "will they or won't they" scenario
by the writers, which had me throwing slippers at the tv Thurs. night.
Jonathan Roberts
> E. Ray Bozeman ...
I'd not noted the last name--perhaps a reference to Robert Pirsig?
Jason Low
>The other thing that bugs me about that (don't get me wrong, I *loved* the
>whole sequence).. isn't ice supposed to be a heck of a lot colder than
>clothes and a football? Plastic bags get COLD when they're full of ice,
>foot or no foot in them. Someone would have had to pick up the bag, and
>probably would have noticed that it wasn't cold, and that there was no
>condensation on the outside of it. Hrmm..
Where are you going with this, phloem? The woman had the not-so-much-cold
bag, which she thought had his effects, but in fact, had the foot.. the
surg team had the cold bag with what they thought was a foot.. but was a
football covered in ice.
Rhonda Whateverhernamewas is 100% incompetent and needs to find another
line of work or else retire as indicated.
Jay
lo...@cuug.ab.ca
Ken Stitzel
Scott Hollifield (sco...@cris.com) wrote:
: Boy. I think E. Ray being in that MRI machine when it's
: bumped up to super-speed is symbolic of the viewers of this show
: when sweeps month kicks in. "No Brain, No Gain" was an ultra-busy
: hour of ER with enough story for two healthy episodes, and there
: were a couple of pertinent turning points as well.
I felt that the title described what you had to do: turn off your
brain and just hold on for the ride!
: (which also derailed their joint vacation)? I think what I like
: most about this story is that it's not necessarily a simple case of
: "Mark didn't make his move soon enough, so he's going to be directly
: punished by Susan moving away".
And if you thought those clever writers were done toying with us
viewers, boy were you wrong! They're teasing and tormenting us for
all we're worth--and we seem to be loving every minute.
Re Carter and Keaton:
: turn-on. How this relationship will be dealt with is anyone's guess,
: but I don't think that was what they wanted us to think about for
: right now. Instead, like Carter and Abby, just savor the moment.
Amen. Some people called it last week and before--but it still felt
like a surprise.
: -And also speaking of the previews, I'm not sure I want to
: watch them anymore. Watching this episode without next
: week's
: preview, and then watching the preview, made it seem almost
: as if I'd seen two different versions of the show, ending
: on two different moods.
Agreed, to some extent (mostly because I can't seem to turn ER off
until I'm absolutely sure it's over). We barely had time to digest
or even comprehend all the stuff that went on here:
...Mark loves Susan and he's going to tell her finally NO WAIT she's
moving away...
...Benton's infant patient will die NO WAIT she's recovering...
...Carter's got a new nemisis NO WAIT now he has a new lover, too...
...That stupid nurse from upstairs really screwed up NO WAIT she's a
human being and we can even feel sorry for her...
As if that wasn't enough, they dropped several bombs during the
preview: Susan's gone NO WAIT Mark's apparently running after her...
and someone's IMPENDING WEDDING. Auughgh!
Boy, sweeps month can be hard on a body!
: Scott Hollifield ** sco...@cris.com ** http://www.cris.com/~scotth
Thanks again, Scotty, for giving good web.... (er, let me rephrase
that!)
--
Ken Stitzel (k...@fc.hp.com)
Learning Products Engineer (tech writer with functional enhancements)
Hewlett-Packard Company (a pretty cool company to work for)
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
(Opinions stated herein are provided without warranty and are not
representative of official or unofficial HP policy on nerve-wracking
trips through sweeps.... ;-)
Scott Hollifield
Jonathan Roberts <nart...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> E. Ray Bozeman ...
>I'd not noted the last name--perhaps a reference to Robert Pirsig?
Hmm. I don't know who that is, but how does Bozeman = "Pirsig"?
Shannon King
Scott Hollifield <sco...@cris.com> wrote:
>Jonathan Roberts <nart...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
>>> E. Ray Bozeman ...
>
>>I'd not noted the last name--perhaps a reference to Robert Pirsig?
>
>Hmm. I don't know who that is, but how does Bozeman = "Pirsig"?
>
Ack! Read _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ -- written
by Robert Pirsig. Bozeman, Montana is where a significant part
of the story takes place. And Jonathan, I think that E. Ray's
last name is definitely a nod to RP -- E. Ray is very zen.
--
Shannon King sk...@cs.smith.edu
"You couldn't get a clue during the clue mating season in a field full of
horny clues if you smeared your body with clue musk and did the clue
mating dance." -- Edward Flaherty
Mike Sugimoto
Scott Hollifield (sco...@cris.com) wrote:
: >> E. Ray Bozeman ...
: >I'd not noted the last name--perhaps a reference to Robert Pirsig?
: Hmm. I don't know who that is, but how does Bozeman = "Pirsig"?
Pirsig wrote "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," probably the
definitive new-age book, the one that spawned all the fun stuff E. Ray's
into. Bozeman is a town in Montana where most of the action in "Zen.."
takes place..
Wow. Talk about obscure references..